


Facets of an Accident

by Macx



Category: Eureka
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-22
Updated: 2011-05-22
Packaged: 2017-10-19 17:10:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathan and Jack and the slow development from best enemies to friends to more...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Code 243: Assault on Police Officer

I. Code 243: Assault on Police Officer

 

 

Two broken fingers: ring and little finger. Sprained left wrist. Concussion. Bruises. Lacerations. Bruised ribs. Twisted left knee.

The list was long. It was filled with the appropriate medical terms and how each injury had been treated, what the prognosis was. The medical personnel had taken great care of documenting each and ever step.

Dr. Nathan Stark, holder of multiple doctorates, former head of Global Dynamics, looked at the still form on the hospital bed, took in the pale skin that was only colored by the bruises and dried blood, and felt something inside him want to scream.

It shouldn’t have happened, like so many things. But this was Global Dynamics and things happened. Things like an airborne toxin that raised the aggression level of receptive individuals.

And former US Marshall, now town Sheriff, Jack Carter had gotten into the middle of it – again.

Stark’s lips were a thin line. He felt the slight pain from the cut on his cheekbone. He hadn’t come away unscathed either, but it had been Carter who had taken the brunt of it all. It had been Carter who had pulled his hero thing and tried to protect him because it was his duty. It was Carter who lay in a hospital bed, conked out on pain medication.

Nathan closed his eyes, but that only helped in vividly replaying the scene at Café Diem. The toxin had influenced not only the scientists who had been in the room at the time but also several security personnel. What had been home disturbances for the more mild-mannered outbreaks had been all-out bouts of violence for others. A group at Café Diem had finally given in to their aggression and attacked whoever was in sight.

Unfortunately one had been Stark, who had been one of the few late customers at Vincent’s place. He knew little of the events after the quite hard blow to the head and the foot into the ribs. There had been Carter’s voice, shouting orders, trying to control the people, but things had quickly spiraled out of control. There had been grunts of pain, blood, shuffling and yelling and the sound of breaking glass. When he had next been able to really see anything, Carter had been leaning heavily against the counter, bruised and bleeding, eyes glassy, and he had crumpled onto the ground in a graceless heap before Stark had been able to react.

Taggert and Jo had finally stunned people and cleared the scene, as well as had called paramedics. Nathan had been too shocked to do much but sit where he was, stare at Carter’s still form, and try to catch a clear thought.

Stark ran light fingers over the cast surrounding Jack’s two broken fingers. One had been dislocated. The cast felt cool and smooth to his touch. It was a recent development in one of the chemical labs, a light-weight but immensely sturdy cast that was easily removed and didn’t need to be changed every week. Patients could shower or bathe with it, it was clean, didn’t smell, and the material was biodegradable.

“Idiot,” he muttered.

There was no reply. He hadn’t expected one.

Jack was the sheriff. It was his job to jump into a dangerous situation to protect the citizens of Eureka. He had been bruised and battered before, but it had never been this bad.

And back then Nathan Stark hadn’t had a very much vested interest in the health and safety of the man. Back then he had been concerned, of course, and he had been mildly disturbed by events, but he had had his emotions in check. He had been distant and cool and sarcastic, keeping his personal shields tightly wrapped around himself.

That had changed a few months ago. Finally, as some people had told him. Eureka’s inhabitants had apparently bet on when the two men would finally realize that their banter was just a foreplay to a relationship that had taken off like a rocket on superfuel.

Nathan smiled slightly at the memory of their encounter, of the strong, demanding kiss that had turned gentle and needy and loving. Of touching the man he had secretly lusted after for the first time. Feeling skin under his hands. Feeling warmth and strength. Seeing the naked form for him to explore.

Now Jack Carter lay in a hospital bed, bruised and battered, with broken bones, and Nathan didn’t know how to handle it. His own body ached and he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep, but the fear was still there. Fear of losing Jack. Fear of missing an important detail. Fear of waking up and Jack being gone, wheeled off to intensive care.

 _Can’t lose you. Not now. I just found the courage to love you._

Their relationship had been rocky from the start. They had been perceived rivals over Allison Blake. They had butted heads over matters like scientists blowing up parts of the town/lab/landscape, or dangerous decisions made by Stark, or the whole secrecy surrounding GD experiments. Stark had never made a secret out of his barely-there tolerance for the meddling sheriff, and Carter had blown up in his face several times.

But somehow they had worked together. Somehow they had turned the fighting into cooperation. Somehow they had turned from reluctant enemies to tentative colleagues, then to careful friends and finally to… this. Nathan smiled dimly.

‘This’ was a connection between two very strong men who were making compromises each and every day, but whose emotions about the matter of their relationship were very strong. Jack never did anything half-way, neither did Nathan. In for a penny, in for the whole Bank of England.

Six months, he mused. Six months of an open, accepted and stormy relationship, marked by banter, fighting, loving, yelling, feeling… feeling a lot. Sometimes he compared it to the beginning of his and Allison’s relationship, but it was still so very different. Both men were scarred by a divorce, both had kids, both had a demanding job that allowed no steady relationship to survive.

Both wanted this to work.

The town had looked at the two men no differently than before. It was more like they had nodded and approved, some had even remarked that it was about time.

 _We flirted_ , Nathan thought with a thin smile. _We flirted as we fought_.

And when they had looked past their perceived rivalry they had worked perfectly well together. They fit, despite all their differences. Nathan Stark, genius scientist; Jack Carter, sheriff. IQ didn’t say anything about a person, about the person’s value, and while the scientists in this town liked to pride themselves on their achievements, Nathan had found that Jack Carter had his own specific genius. Sometimes IQ got in the way; sometimes thinking too much blinded you to the simple solution.

He needed Jack to be different. He needed someone who wasn’t competing in the same fields he worked in. He needed… normalcy.

“I need you,” he whispered, his voice wavering a little.

He needed the sarcasm. He needed the innocence. He needed the inane sounding questions. He needed the Looks. He needed the home life, the tolerance, the fights, the loving, and he needed the family. Zoe was his family, too. He loved the kid. She was special, just like her father, and she was a true Carter.

Stark smiled. It had helped their relationship that he had been suspended for a few months. GD had been headed by Allison and Stark had had a lot of free time. He had spent that time either bugging Carter or lurking around GD. Bugging Carter had become sharing coffee. Sharing coffee had become sharing a beer. Beer had turned into hard liquor the day Allison had said ‘no’ to his proposal of remarrying him. It had been Nathan who had turned to Jack for companionship that evening, to keep him from ending up in a ditch. Carter had been both a friend and the town’s responsible sheriff when he had sat down with the depressed scientist and had watched him drink.

In the week after the line between friend and… lover had been crossed. It hadn’t been about forgetting – well, maybe a little – or a rebound thing – no, really not – and it hadn’t been a one-night stand. It had been the true beginning after many false starts.

There was no way back. Not that he really wanted to.

Zoe had been strangely accepting, almost smirking at them, and Nathan found he had needed her approval. She was a bright young woman, with the ‘Carter street smarts’ and a healthy scientific curiosity. She would make a great addition to Global one day. Jack still grimaced at the idea of his daughter becoming a scientist, but Nathan knew that secretly he was very proud of her.

He also knew that Carter sometimes felt like he should understand more, that he wasn’t smart enough, but Nathan knew different. Carter’s smarts were different, but he saw things where all the scientists at Global couldn’t find a solution. He had a simpler approach, but that didn’t make the man simple. Jack was far from simple. He was actually quite complicated.

“Nathan?”

He slowly turned his head and met the compassionate gaze of Allison Blake, currently head of Global, his ex-wife. She was smartly dressed, impeccable, not a crease out of place. Allison was still a beautiful woman and Nathan knew why he had married her, why he still loved her, but he was no longer in love with her. They had been too alike. They were better friends than lovers and while he had missed her in the beginning, he had discovered that the lust had passed.

“Ally,” he replied.

“He’ll be okay.”

He nodded. “I know.” He had read the charts.

“You both got lucky.”

But he didn’t feel lucky. It could have been so much worse!

Her smaller hand squeezed his shoulder and he tried not wince. There was a bruise there. He had a collection of them, but none were as bad as Carter’s.

“Get some rest,” she advised.

“I am.”

“Sitting here can’t be comfortable. Nathan…”

“I’m fine.”

Allison gazed at the unconscious sheriff. “We’re all worried. About Jack, but also about you. People have been asking, wanting to know…”

“I’m not leaving him.”

“He’s not in any danger.”

Nathan’s eyes narrowed and he looked into her dark eyes, his own hard and unyielding. Finally Allison sighed.

“Have it your way then. Call me if you need anything.”

Stark nodded dismissively.

“By the way, you’re being reinstated.”

He blinked, then the green eyes narrowed. “What?” he asked softly.

Allison smiled tightly. “I got the call. You’re being reinstated as head of Global by the end of the week.”

“No one told me.”

“I’m telling you now.”

Reluctantly, Nathan rose, though he still kept a hand on Jack’s limp one. “Ally…”

She raised a hand to stop him. “No. It’s okay. I only kept the chair warm for you. You made a mistake and you were punished, and I have to say, I liked my old job more.”

“Kicking my ass?” he teased.

“Among other things.”

“DoD becomes you.”

She smiled again. “You’re a lot better at this, Nathan. As is Fargo. The poor guy had no idea how to handle it and Larry wasn’t any help.”

Nathan smirked. “I see.”

“Transfer will be arranged tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

She nodded.

Silence descended when Allison had left again and Nathan continued to run his fingers and hand over Jack’s.

He was back at the top.

It was almost laughable and he wanted nothing more than to talk to Carter about it, listen to his good-natured jibe, his teasing, his amiable threats. They would be on opposing ends of the same rope once more, but it was fun. It was a game they played and they were good at it.

Nathan squeezed the uninjured fingers. “We’ll be great,” he murmured.

People were worried. People loved Carter. They loved their sheriff. He had witnessed it before, especially with the VR space incident, and it had made him slightly jealous. But Dr. Nathan Stark wasn’t in Eureka to be loved by all. Respect was needed for his job, and cooperation. Eureka was a small, exclusive community and he had never removed himself from it, but he was one of the most powerful people here and people treated him differently.

Not Jack. He smiled again. No, Jack was special in his own way.

Exhaustion had him blink and Nathan scrubbed a hand over his face. He had a bed and it was comfortable, but he didn’t want to lose the connection to Carter. Pillowing his head on the mattress, he let his eyes fall shut. His body protested the position, but with a little shifting he managed to find a good place. And he slid off into sleep.

 

 


	2. Code 54: Combustible Materials

 II. Code 54: Combustible Materials

 

 

Zoe was with her mother and wouldn’t be back for another fifteen days. Nathan had called her, of course, and she had been worried and demanded to speak to her father, and had then decided to come back early, which Jack had said wasn’t necessary. Knowing his little girl, she would be here soon.

Jack had never felt the size of the bunker more acutely than throughout the time Zoe was not there. They had grown so much closer since Eureka, had become a real family, and he needed her here. It was as if part of him wasn’t around. Now that he was also trapped in here, bored to death, unable to do much because of the cast and his aching knee, not to mention the headaches, he was even more aware of his daughter’s absence.

With a soft hiss the door opened and Jack frowned. He got up slowly from the couch and stared at Nathan as the man walked into the bunker. Part of Carter appreciated the tall, lean form, the smooth lines of the body he knew very well, the perfect fit of the dark suit, the light blue shirt and the dark blue tie. There wasn’t a hair out of place and if Jack didn’t know different, he would have suspected that Dr. Nathan Stark employed a make-up artist to make him into such an image of perfection. But he knew there was no make-up. The clear green eyes didn’t need enhancement. The tanned skin and close-cut beard were naturally that good looking on him.

“What are you doing here?” Jack blurted.

Dark eyebrows rose. “Want me to leave?”

“No! I mean, no, not really, but… you said you had to be at Global today…”

Just because Carter was sick at home didn’t meant the head of GD could simply take time off, especially since Stark had just been reinstated and was catching up on a lot of matters that he hadn’t been involved in for months. It was a lifetime, he had told Jack.

The news that Stark was back at the top had floored Jack a little. He had been still in the infirmary when he had heard about it and while part of him had believed it to be the painkillers, another part had been strangely satisfied. Nathan was where he truly belonged: in charge. He was a leader and he needed to lead Global Dynamics. Global Dynamics needed him.

Of course, now they would be on a confrontational course –professionally – again. Something would blow up at GD, some kind of experiment would get lose or have some kind of impact on the people Carter was responsible for, and Nathan would tell him he had everything under control. Of course.

Jack smiled a little at the thought. He had always enjoyed their fights, the banter, the snarking, and the sparks. The sparks were still there and they flew in their private life, too, but a little differently. They were both alpha males by the text book definition, though with Carter people might argue he was on the lower rung, and they fought. And they loved and lived together and had a daughter to raise. Nathan saw Zoe as his responsibility, just like he had accepted Kevin as his when he had married Allison.

After the accident and after Carter had been released from the infirmary, Nathan had tried to be with his lover as much as possible, but one crises chased another, first one accident, then the next. Global was a melting pot of accidents and accidental occurrences. Allison had gladly turned the lead over, smiling not unlike Nathan had smiled at her when he had suddenly found the weight of responsibility off his shoulders.

“Allison kicked me out,” Stark now said casually.

Jack knew he was gaping. “W-why?”

“She mentioned something along the lines of being a danger to everyone.”

Jack blinked, slightly confused. Stark walked over, draped his long coat over a chair on the way, and smiled at the blond man. He was back in his suits, which Jack found immensely sexy on him because they accentuated the lean form and reflected the power the man wielded. Not that he hadn’t liked the washed out jeans, the lose shirts or the t-shirts that showed just how nicely built Nathan was. Actually, Carter didn’t care what the man wore, but sometimes it was simply too good on the eye.

“She said to go home and take care of the cranky jackass who voluntarily shares living space with me,” Nathan now added.

“I’m not cranky,” Carter immediately protested.

It got him a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not,” he insisted.

Nathan leaned forward and brushed their lips together, one hand carefully cupping the bruised face.

“You are. You’re one hell of a patient, sheriff.”

“I’m stuck here all day and reduced to a couch potato watching TV and stuffing myself with chips,” Carter grumbled. “And I’m arguing with my damn house over nutritional values of what I want to eat!”

“All the simple things you usually enjoy doing…”

Jack stepped back, raised a hand, finger pointing at Stark. “Don’t you dare insult my IQ!”

“Touchy,” Nathan sighed, shaking his head. “And I wasn’t going to insult you. Or your IQ. You’re a bright man, Jack. I don’t belittle your difference to the science world of Eureka.”

“Now that is just…” Jack fought for words. “That’s so ambiguous!”

“I was going to say this is what you like on a day off,” Nathan corrected himself calmly, patiently looking at his injured partner. “But I’m also proud you’re keeping with the big words, sheriff.” He winked.

Jack glared at him. “I’ll have you know I’m reading the book backwards! Starting with Z.”

Nathan smiled more. “I laude the effort. Zesty.”

The blue eyes flared with indignation. Nathan drew him closer again, slowly, giving Jack time to make up his mind whether he was angry with Stark or just pissed off at himself. To tell the truth, Jack was pissed off at himself, at his inability to do anything, and sometimes old wounds were ripped open by the most innocent banter.

“This isn’t a day off. This is forced downtime. I hate it,” he growled.

Stark ran gentle fingers along the cast, smiling more. “You were injured.”

“I’m not an invalid.”

The fingers skimmed along the hard edge. “Of course not. But your body needs to recover.”

Blue eyes sparked again, settling on the rather spectacular laceration on Stark’s face, then running over the cuts on his neck.

“Minor,” Nathan commented. “Compared to broken bones and concussions.”

“I could work my desk,” Jack agued.

“No.”

“But…”

“No.”

“Jo…”

“Is very well able to handle Eureka’s citizens herself.”

Jack glowered, but it took more than this to make a man like Stark cave. Instead Nathan just smirked, knowing it would enrage the other even more. He soothed the injured pride and hurt feelings with a caress and a kiss.

“We need you healthy, sheriff,” he murmured against the lips. “I need you healthy, Jack. Take it easy. Heal.”

“I’m bored, Nathan,” Jack sighed, resting his head against his lover’s.

“How about a late lunch at Café Diem?”

Jack drew back and his eyes lit up like a little kid’s. “Really?”

“I’m driving,” Nathan added, smiling at the change of moods.

“Spoilsport.”

“Invalid.”

Carter snorted, scowling.

“I thought you’d enjoy me being here, but if you’re going to be grumpy…”

“I’m not grumpy!”

Nathan regarded him steadily and Carter glowered back.

“Grumpy,” the scientist finally stated, like it was the result of a long-term experiment.

“Fuck off,” was the muttered reply.

Stark pulled him close and Jack didn’t fight the gentle kiss. “Now I know why men have such a bad reputation as patients.”

Jack huffed against his chest. He wormed his hands, one hindered by the cast, underneath the suit jacket and relaxed a little more against the taller man.

“There are better places to cuddle than the middle of the living room,” Nathan said conversationally. “Standing up.”

“Not cuddling.”

“Of course not.”

“But you’re right about the standing.”

“I’m always right.”

“Arrogant bastard.”

“Sheriff.”

“Is that supposed to be an insult because you’ve come up with better in the past.” Blue eyes sparkled with humor.

Nathan smiled. “It was a statement. I suppose yours was one too.”

“It’s a fact all right.”

“See?”

Jack shook his head and pulled away, heading for the couch. Nathan trailed after him, a hard to interpret expression in his eyes as he watched him limp. Jack was far from okay and both men knew it, but Carter claimed he had had worse and Nathan knew that the man was prone to get hurt. Eureka was a nice, wonderful community, but not the safest place.

Carter elevated his leg and placed the cast on his stomach. Nathan settled down beside him and Jack rested his uninjured hand on his thigh, caressing it in a reassuring way. He smiled at Nathan’s expression but didn’t say anything.

“SARAH, TV, Channel fifty-five.”

The TV switched on and Nathan smirked at the program. Sports. What else?

Kicking off his shoes he put his feet onto the table and let the mundane entertainment wash over him.

“I still hold you to that promise,” Jack said after a while.

“Hm?” he asked distractedly.

“Café Diem.”

“Of course.”

“Memory like an elephant.”

Nathan grinned mischievously, but Jack clamped a hand over his mouth.

“No. A. Word.”

Stark kissed the palm over his lips. “Wouldn’t dare,” he murmured when Jack withdrew the hand. “Dumbo.”

“Oh, you! That’s it! You sleep on the couch tonight!”

“That way I don’t get brained by the cast again. Good deal.”

Jack glared.

Nathan grinned unrepentantly.

“You’re paying,” Jack finally grumbled and settled back against the taller man.

“My treat,” Nathan confirmed, linking fingers with Jack’s good hand.

“You’re still on the couch, though.”

“Hm, I like your couch.”

Jack muttered something under his breath. They knew Stark wouldn’t be banned to the couch, but for now they both acted as if the threat still stood. Nathan kissed the blond head and Jack hummed a little, smiling to himself.

 

 


	3. Code 415e: Noise Complaint

III. Code 415e: Noise Complaint

 

 

He lay awake, watching the semi-naked form next to him on the mattress, eyes now and then drawn to the visible bruises on one shoulder. Carter had dropped off like a stone. The day had been straining for him, though they had done nothing more than drive into town, get a late lunch, swing by the sheriff office – at Carter’s insistence – had a coffee with Jo and Taggert, and then gone back to hang out in the bunker, watch TV and eat a light dinner. All those little things had worn Jack out. He had nearly fallen asleep on the couch and had finally conceded that he was tired when Stark had woken him the third time.

Nathan smiled a little to himself.

Jack had curled up close to him, at least as close as he could with his various aches and pains, as well as two fingers of his left hand in a cast. The cast would come off by the end of the week, pending an examination of the healing bones by Dr. Kersh. It would ease Jack’s boredom at least a little. And if his knee proceeded to mend just as well, he would be back being the sheriff of Eureka soon.

The arm thrown over Stark’s midriff tightened a little, digging the cast into his skin.

“Thinking,” Jack complained sleepily.

Nathan almost laughed and he carded his fingers into the blond hair. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Sleep,” Carter muttered.

Yes, he probably should. He would be back at Global tomorrow, six a.m. on the second, and ‘terrorize his minions’, as Jack always joked. He would look into the currently running projects, the latest developments, the pending ones, and see to it that Fargo wasn’t involved in some accidental release of something very unhealthy or pushed buttons again. Then he would be back.

Carter had remarked that he would try and stay awake tonight, but Nathan shouldn’t bet on it. Stark had wanted to argue back that the visit would only take a few hours, but he knew it wasn’t like that.

Jack made a sleepy noise of complaint, as if he could hear or feel every of Nathan’s thoughts, and Stark automatically made a soft, calming sound. He finally closed his eyes and let his mind relax, listening to the sound of Jack next to him, his breathing, his gentle snores, and Nathan Stark drifted off into a doze.

 

* * *

 

 

The body underneath his hands was squirming closer, pushing into his touch, and he slid his hands over the form-fitting black shirt, felt the muscles underneath. He splayed his hands over the side, slid them to the hips, pulled the other man even closer. Lips and tongues battled for dominance and he gave as good as he got. There was a gasp, but no surrender, as he pushed a leg between the muscular thighs of his lover, and Carter clawed at his dress shirt, bunching the fabric.

 

Buttons popped, fabric rustled, and Nathan groaned as teeth scraped over his neck and bit lightly. The shirt was pushed over his shoulders and finally landed on the ground, and Jack’s hands had free access to his skin. Another bite had him gasp.

 

Carter used his momentary distraction to reverse their positions, pushing Stark against the wall as he slid to the ground onto his knees, deftly opening the suit pants.

 

“Jack…” It sounded like a painful moan.

 

Carter lost no time and there was no teasing as he took the hard member into his mouth. Stark almost yelled at the feeling of teeth grazing over sensitive skin, at the strong suction, the fingers kneading his balls, the demanding pace. All that escaped him was an encouraging groan.

 

So good. So terrible wrong and good. He wanted more and harder and deeper and he wanted to take it all. He wanted Jack not just sucking him, but he wanted to bury himself into the willing body, listen to the sounds his lover made, listen to his pleas for more.

 

The images of what Carter looked like naked and needy and pleading were enough to have him spill faster than he usually did. The smug expression in the blue eyes watching him had Stark growl.

 

Jack licked his lips, the smugness rising.

 

“Bastard,” Stark whispered roughly.

 

“You liked it.”

 

He had never not liked it. Jack was damned good and he knew it. Sex alone was not the definition of what they had, but it was a damn great addition to the rest of it.

 

Nathan drew him up, capturing the tempting mouth in a kiss that turned from dominating to gentle and ended in trading little kisses and nibs.

 

“Missed this,” Jack murmured, nuzzling against his jaw.

 

“Hm, at least I could wank to the fantasy of you.”

 

Carter chuckled. “Right.”

 

With the cast and the general misery Carter had been in there had been little thought of sex on his part, and Stark hadn’t really lost all too many thoughts about it either. He had been too busy with the fall-out of the failed experiment and his worry about Jack.

 

They met in a new kiss once more and Nathan wrapped a strong hand around the pronounced erection of his lover. He stroked him slowly, savoring the uneven breathing against his neck. It didn’t take long for Jack to follow him over the edge and Stark held the lean form as the last shudders ebbed away.

 

“Long time?” he teased.

 

“Go to hell.”

 

They cleaned up in the sonic shower, which was less erotic than a shower with water would have been. Stark still used the chance to watch the athletic form move, couldn’t stop touching and kissing, and his fingers unerringly found the reddish scars and fading bruises, caressing them.

 

“I’m fine,” Jack said softly, arms around his lover.

 

“I know.”

 

“But you’re still freaking.”

 

“I don’t freak.”

 

It got him a huff. “Sure.”

 

Stark continued to caress the most prominent of red scars. He still remembered the feeling panic when he had seen the blood soaking Jack’s shirt. Kersh had reported that it was a long and deep laceration across the shoulder blade, inflicted by a shard of glass. The stitches had been removed some time ago. It was still healing and might never fade completely without help. Kersh had mentioned a project by a colleague, a substance that when applied to scarred skin had them fade and disappear. Jack wasn’t really all too happy about experimental medicine.

 

“Nathan…”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I won’t fall apart on you. I’m okay.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Jack dislodged the hand as he turned around and pushed Stark against the wall. Blue eyes met green, serious and intense.

 

“I know I’ve told you before and I’ll keep telling you again and again: it’s part of the job. Like it’s part of your job. I’m scared to get the call about some hideous virus that infected you and there’s no cure, or an explosion in the labs and you were there, or anything else you scientists cook up. I want to protect you, Nathan. I want you safe, with me, forever. But I know it’s impossible. Just like it’s impossible that I won’t get hurt ever again.”

 

Stark smiled slightly, rubbing a hand over Carter’s side. “I know. Logically I know. I just hate the emotions accompanying that knowledge.”

 

“Me, too.”

 

Jack kissed him again, warm and reassuring. It was all he could do. There were no guarantees, in either of their lives.

 

 


	4. Code 288: Lewd Conduct

 

V. Code 288: Lewd Conduct

 

 

Jack looked down at the man on the bed, taking in the warm, green eyes, the slight flush to the tanned skin, and he leaned forward, kissing those wonderful lips. Nathan's hands came up, caressing his sides, and Jack moved his hips, feeling Nathan's grip tighten. He drew back a little, settling down on the long legs, smiling. Then he began to slowly push the expensive, specially tailored suit jacket off the strong shoulders. He unbuttoned the light gray dress shirt, feeling like unwrapping a present. Nathan's eyes never left him as he reached the thin undershirt underneath, grinning cheekily.

"You wear too many clothes, Nate," Jack murmured.

Nathan pushed himself up on his elbows to help with the removal of the dress shirt and  undershirt.

“Stop calling me Nate,” he ordered, but there was no fire in his voice.

"Like peeling an onion," Carter added, ignoring the order as usual. "And the best's underneath all the layers."

His voice dropped to a seductive whisper, then his lips were back on Nathan's. They kissed languidly for a while, enjoying the simple contact, until Jack started to nibble his way along the bearded chin and down the vulnerable throat. Nathan's hands were skimming up his arms and down his sides once more, his body tensing whenever Jack hit a soft spot.

Carter smiled to himself and started to slowly undo Nathan's belt, then slid the pants off the long legs. He undressed himself quickly, then resumed his position, and just looked at the naked man underneath him. Gentle fingers traced along a collar bone.

Nathan's fingers caught his, drawing his touch away and toward his lips. Their eyes met and Stark interlaced their fingers, squeezing Jack's hand. Jack smiled in reply, kissing Nathan's knuckles.

 _Love you_ , he thought.

It had taken too long for them to find this and he wanted to enjoy every moment. So he had accepted Nathan’s invitation to spend the night at his house. Zoe would be fine on her own and his daughter had practically shooed him out of the bunker, telling him to have fun.

Jacks free hand traced over the muscular chest, petting, caressing, stroking… soothing and arousing in one. Nathan freed the caught hand and Jack used it to dually stimulate his lover. From the evidence further south, Nathan was very stimulated already.

Jack slid down the slender form, nibbling at the soft skin in the process, and when he finally swallowed his lover’s hardness Nathan made a soft sighing noise. Jack smiled inwardly. He knew the other man well enough to understand that this was a sound of high pleasure. Nathan’s hips twitched a little as Jack continued, and he was starting to breath harder.

Jack gave all he got and his hands wandered over the body he had got to know so well during the past months. One hand slid between his lover’s legs to tease a little and then – he pushed carefully. Nathan was no bottom, but Jack knew exactly how it felt, and this time he wanted to give this instead of receiving it.

Nathan stiffened under him, and he felt a hand caressing his neck, but the other man didn’t resist his ministrations. Jack slid his finger a little deeper, heard Nathan gasp, the hold on his neck tightened – and then he was where he had aimed for, stroking the spot inside his lover that would give him the most intense pleasure.

Nathan bucked and hissed.

Jack did it again. And again.

And then…

A suppressed moan.

“…Jack… “

Nathan’s voice was hoarse with passion, and he was starting to tremble. Jack smiled. Applying just a little more pressure, stimulating, caressing, sucking in earnest now, until he could feel every fiber in Nathan’s body tense up, heard some panting, almost sobbing sounds, as Nathan gripped the sheets, heard him suck in a lungful of air – which exploded in a deep groan as he did just the same, his climax washing over him and through him like a thunderstorm, again and again.

Jack glided up the still slightly trembling form of his lover and found himself wrapped into two strong arms holding him close, and a hot mouth plundering his, the deep passion, love and lust in that kiss making him groan.  Nathan made a soft noise and then his hand slid between their bodies, fingers closing around Jack’s hardness. Jack moaned and deepened the kiss, bucking helplessly into his lover’s hold, feeling Nathan’s finger glide and tease, while his other hand weaved into his hair. Then Nathan increased his rhythm and all Jack could do was spread his legs and moan, whimper and sob softly, holding on to his lover until Nathan finally allowed him to stumble over the edge.

 


End file.
